by Christyl Rivers

Created on: July 26, 2011   Last Updated: July 27, 2011

The motto, “If it bleeds, it leads,” is a rule of journalism that teaches the more sensational, or even gory, a news item may be, the more of human interest it is.  We should not be surprised that news is usually bad news.

By definition, then, news tends to be negative so people will watch. But some scare tactics are seized upon and used to manipulate viewers, and this has never been more true than right now, in the information age of multiple media outlets of the 21st century.

Presently, News of the World super mogul Rupert Murdock is in the news because his many faceted news outlets are charged with crimes of conspiracy, fraud, and invasion of privacy.  Murdock owns more than a hundred media outlets, ranging from infamous tabloid “rags” to Fox news, which some believe is a legitimate journalism source.  Few people realize the extent of copy cat news “memos” and “talking points.” These are well known industry titles for keeping all sources: print, radio, internet, and television, on propaganda sharpened points of constant reiteration. In other words, the audiences, we the viewers, are skewered again and again with the same sharpened spears of scary points.  We are told the U.S. president, for example, is a socialist, is un-American,  is secretly a Muslim (as if that is a crime) and for distraction, again and again, they come back to stories which for well over a year even questioned the origin of Obama’s birth.

Fox is notorious for its severe right wing slant on world news. They deliberately present such things as progressive movements for minority, women’s or gay rights, for example, as being a horrific threat to freedom, values, and prosperity.  If one listens long enough, it is easy to be convinced that gays, women, and minorities are lurking with Nazi/Socialist/Maoist/Sharia platforms, ready to convert the whole planet to lawless chaos, Sharia law, and worse, violent crime ridden Sodom and Gomorrah land.  In this grave new world, presumably only deadbeats have rights and you will be forced into marrying your dog, cat, or gay preacher.

It makes little sense when one realizes that for all of world history only the super wealthy and powerful truly wield most power.  As of course, they do still.  As Murdock so aptly demonstrates, it is Multi-national corporations, and no longer governments of any kind, that “own” and plunder the planet. 

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